Commerce Secretary, Anyone?
Almost four weeks in office already, and he still has no Health and Human Services secretary, no Labor secretary and no Commerce secretary. And, for Commerce, it’s been two misfires in a row!
Well, I was sorry to see New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson (D) go. But, for Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.), I have to say: Goodbye, and good riddance!
After Robert Gates and Ray LaHood, Gregg was one Republican too many. It’s one thing to seek bipartisanship, but you don’t give them half of the Cabinet.
Gregg was a strange fit to start with. In 1995, he voted to abolish the Department of Commerce. This year, he agreed to be Commerce secretary only if another Republican were named to replace him in the Senate.
Then, once nominated, Gregg wanted the title, without going along with the program. He refused to join three other Republicans in voting for the president’s stimulus package. Now he’ll probably vote against it. And he was already planning a power-grab by trying to cut the White House out of any role in the 2010 census.
In other words, this appointment was doomed from the beginning. Obama was wrong to offer it. Gregg was wrong to accept. And the entire nation’s better off that the whole deal fell apart before Gregg ever took office.
Commerce secretary, anyone?
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